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Volunteering
By
Joan E. Thompson |
Plymouth
— This season of gift-giving, holiday greetings, and events
full of warmth and thankfulness feeds our desire to reach
out to others who may not be so fortunate. It’s a natural
extension of the joy of the season. As agents for change,
volunteers look forward to brightening the day for someone –
especially a stranger – who might otherwise go hungry or
cold, especially during this bountiful season.
Thank you for caring enough to change your behavior and
think up new ways to help others at this time of year!
Volunteers change the situation for themselves as well as
for others. If they weren’t volunteering, they’d be doing
something else, which makes their volunteer role a change in
their own behavior as well. Behavior and situation were both
discussed in last month’s column (New ABC’s, November 2006)
among the “ABCs” of volunteering. Let’s continue that
alphabet.
You remember the fish parable: give a man a fish and he eats
for a day; teach him to fish and he eats for life. As
volunteers, we may choose to give someone a single “fish”
and help the immediate situation. Sharing a fish changes the
behavior and situation for us both – and provides a
necessary meal. Maybe you gave a Thanksgiving basket to a
hungry family. Your behavior may have influenced a new
attitude in the recipient, who had been thinking “No one
cares.”
But they’ll be hungry again tomorrow.
Consider changing your behavior and those situations that
need changing by celebrating a Second Season of joy and
comfort – in March or August. Often, organizations feel the
season is over – people have given all they can. But have
we? Until we change the condition of hunger, there will be
people whose personal situation leaves them hungry. If we
value life and the living, we will choose to improve their
immediate situation; not just from hunger, but from
loneliness, isolation, depression or sickness. When
situations arise out of ignorance, we can bring knowledge by
teaching and coaching, and skills by sharing and modeling
our own.
That’s it. That’s the Alphabet of Change: Knowledge, Skills,
Attitude, Behaviors, Values, Situation and Condition. Change
any one condition and give the recipient a fish. Change a
few all at once and you may have successfully taught someone
how to fish. And to you who volunteer, anytime, anywhere,
thank you. May this Season be your best ever!
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About The Author
Joan Thompson is the Executive Director for Mayflower RSVP,
Inc., a non-profit organization mobilizing Volunteer Service
Activities in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. She has
directed RSVP’s Retired & Senior Volunteer Program for
nearly 30 years, working with 200 public/private, health,
human service, and educational organizations to provide
meaningful volunteer service opportunities for members in
the RSVP program. She is a trainer in Volunteer Systems
Management for local and national organizations and a member
of AVA, the International Association for Volunteer
Administration. She may be contacted at RSVP’s Plymouth
County headquarters, (508) 746-7787 or MayflowerRSVP@Verizon.net.
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